- 95 points -

From 90- to 100-year-old vines and picked about four weeks after the Kabinett, the 2022 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese offers a very clear, precise and fresh, substantial and complex nose with fresh lemon and crushed slate aromas. Round and savory on the palate, this is a pure, vibrantly fresh and elegant Sonnenuhr Spätlese with gorgeous fruit and savoriness. The finish is crunchy, saline and mouth-watering. This is a classic in the making, and it should be great in about a decade or two. There is remarkable precision and salivating length here. 7% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in May 2023.

- 95 points -

- 95 points -

The 2021er Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese was made from fruit picked at 87° Oechsle on over 90-year-old vines and was fermented down to sweet levels of residual sugar (77 g/l). It offers a superbly aromatic and complex nose of almond cream, vineyard peach, apricot, smoke, anise, and William’s pear. The wine coats the palate with ample juicy and ripe yellow fruits, and leaves a playful and layered feel in the superbly long and creamy finish. This has superb Spätlese aromatics and finesse.

- 94 points -

Picked at 87° Oechsle but from 90-year-old, ungrafted vines and with lots of sugar-free dry extract, the 2021 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese opens with intense and generous, ripe and even concentrated fruit with very fine notes of crushed slate and fresh lemon juice. Round and refined on the palate, this is a delicious, very delicate and vivacious Spätlese with typical WSU finesse and fine acidity that is interwoven with the characteristic and so stimulating salinity on the finish. This is a lush and almost erotic Spätlese that needs a decade to become really seductive. 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2022.

- 94 points -

The 2017er Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese was made from fruit harvested at 93° Oechsle on very old un-grafted vines (thought to have been planted in 1890). It immediately shows quite the exotic ripeness of a fine Auslese on the nose as scents of apricot, mango, honeyed orange and spices emerge from the glass. The wine is superbly juicy even if still on the sweet side on the palate. Thankfully, a tickly and juicy acidity whips up the flavors and brings great balance to the very long and focused finish. This quite marvelous expression of a light “drinking Auslese” only needs a decade to fully blossom and develop its full complexity.

- 93 points -

This was sourced from the ungrafted, centenarian vines that in 2015 informed the dry Riesling labeled “Uralte Würzelechte Reben.” Site-typical scents and flavors of apple and vanilla are accompanied by a hint of apricot familiar from this year’s Sonnenuhr Kabinett as well as from some other vintages of Richter wines from this Einzellage. The lush fruitiness is seductively complemented by a creamy, glycerol-rich texture and inner-mouth honeysuckle and heliotrope perfume. A superbly sustained finish unexpectedly and delightfully introduces fresh lime and grapefruit that animate and refresh.

- 93 points -

The 2018er Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese was made from clean grapes harvested at a full 95° Oechsle, and was fermented down to fully sweet levels of residual sugar (95 g/l). It offers a beautiful nose of bitter lemon, mirabelle, laurel and whipped cream. The wine delivers nice flavours of pear, ginger, Provence herbs, cream and herbs, and leaves the beautifully racy but unctuous structure of an Auslese in the finish. It remains beautifully playful in the after-taste.

- 92 points -

A fat and sassy Riesling, with long, full and rich flavors of smoked meat, dried peach and ruby grapefruit. The minerally finish features fresh spice notes. Drink now through 2040. 350 cases made.

- 92 points -

This Spätlese was from fruit harvested at 94° Oechsle from very old vines. Still quite reductive in style and marked by residual notes of spontaneous fermentation, this wine develops a gorgeously elegant nose of pear, cinnamon, fine spices and herbs. It proves however on the rich and ripe side on the palate as it unfolds exotic flavors of mango and guava not unlike those found in an Auslese. The finish is all about ripe fruits, vibrant freshness and lightness. This is a beautiful even if slightly riper expression of Sonnenuhr Spätlese.

92+ points

The 2022er Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese was made from fruit picked at 87° Oechsle on over 90-year-old vines and was fermented down to sweet levels of residual sugar (77 g/l). It offers a ripe and beautifully complex nose made of pear, melon, whipped cream, floral elements, and fine minty herbs. The wine is subtly creamy and still nicely light-weighted on the palate and leaves a juicy feel of grapefruit, apricot, and pearinfused flavors in the long finish. A touch of sweetness still needs to integrate in the aftertaste, something which will happen after a decade or so of bottle aging. There is some upside here as the wine reveals its complexity with age.

93+

Harvested at 95° Oechsle, this offers a gorgeously ripe nose of grapefruit, pineapple, apricot tree flower and grapefruit. The wine is superbly elegant on the palate and leaves a juicy feel of Auslese racy creaminess in the mouth-watering finish. 2025-2045